Learn how to become strong as a powerlifter and at the same time have the great muscle volume that professional bodybuilders have. Very often, on specialized forums, one can hear reproaches from representatives of powerlifting against bodybuilders for the minimal sportiness of their competitions. Bodybuilders do not remain in debt and respond in kind, putting forward counterclaims. However, representatives of these sports disciplines have a lot to learn from each other. Strength training and muscle hypertrophy workouts differ in a number of ways and can be very effectively combined. Let's see what benefits a powerlifter / bodybuilder hybrid can have.
It should be said that during the first bodybuilding tournaments, athletes had to not only show their muscles, but also demonstrate functional qualities. In turn, at the beginning of the development of powerlifting, powerlifters had a more aesthetic appearance than they do now.
Benefits of a Powerlifter / Bodybuilder Hybrid
If your goal is only to increase strength indicators, then you should not forget about gaining muscle mass. The same can be said for bodybuilders, for whom mass is important, but strength will not be superfluous. This is easy to explain from the standpoint of physical perfection, because you can be both pumped up and strong at the same time.
Your activities can create fertile soil not only for mass gain, but also for the development of strength indicators. If you are looking to increase your strength, then do not focus all on the work with weights, and also pay more attention to the feel of your muscles. Bodybuilders should not only feel the muscles, but also pay more attention to working weights. Believe me, you have a lot to learn from the representatives of the opposite camp.
To maximize your strength score, you first need to gain muscle mass. Only in this case will you be able to fully reveal the potential inherent in you. The situation is similar with weight gain. If you do not have the proper strength, then you simply cannot work with a decent weight of sports equipment, which is necessary to accelerate muscle hypertrophy.
Of course, if you know how to feel your muscles, then this is very good. But you also need to increase your strength. It does not fundamentally matter what is more important for you - force or mass. You need to create a balanced training program to effectively address these two challenges. If you succeed, then you will be surprised how much faster you have progressed. A very interesting point in the training of powerlifters and bodybuilders is that the former try to make their work of lifting weights as easy as possible, while the latter do everything to complicate this process. In order not to be unfounded, consider the bench press in the prone position. To improve your strength, you should reduce your range of motion and use your legs as much as possible. At the same time, to gain mass, you need to perform the movement slowly, constantly controlling it. Now we are not talking about which of these methods is correct. They will both lead you to your goal.
We want to show you that it is possible to use a scheme that will allow you to effectively gain mass and at the same time develop strength. To do this, you need to start each session with three basic strength movements, for example, the army press, lifting the barbell to the chest, deadlift and bench press.
At the same time, your technique for performing them should be guided by lifting the maximum weight. For one set of each exercise, do 1 to 5 reps with a working weight of 85 percent of your 1RM.
After this, 2 to 4 auxiliary movements should be performed to engage the muscles that were resting during the main exercise. Choose assistive movements based on their effect on muscle tissue, and while doing it, be guided by the principles of bodybuilding.
You can perform auxiliary movements with the same weight, or use supersets, a "pyramid" scheme, drop sets, etc. It is important for you to achieve such stress for muscle tissues so that they not only increase in size, but also increase the strength index. When performing the main movement, you give a high intensity, and then with the help of the auxiliary ones you finally exhaust them.
For more information on how to combine the best qualities of a bodybuilder and a powerlifter, see this video:
